1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a printer apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A printer that prints out receipts or the like is widely used for various purposes such as for a cash register of a store, or an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) or a CD (Cash Dispenser) of a bank. Such a printer includes a roll of heat sensitive paper to be used as recording paper. The printer prints, for example, letters on the recording paper by way of a thermal head or the like while the recording paper is conveyed. The recording paper is conveyed until the length of the recording paper reaches a predetermined length. Then, upon reaching the predetermined length, the recording paper is cut by a cutter.
A printer that cuts the recording paper with the cutter may have a fixed blade and a movable blade. By moving the movable blade toward the fixed blade, the recording paper is cut by the fixed blade and the movable blade.    [Patent Document 1]: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-106273    [Patent Document 2]: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-130842    [Patent Document 3]: Japanese Patent No. 2683166
A configuration of a printer 1000 that uses the fixed blade and the movable blade to cut a recording paper is described with reference to FIGS. 1A-2B.
As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the printer 1000 includes a printer head (e.g., thermal head) 910 and a platen roller 920. A recording paper 930 is conveyed between the printer head 910 and the platen roller 920. Printing is performed on the recording paper 903 while the recording paper 930 passes between the printer head 910 and the platen roller 920. The platen roller 920 rotates to pass the printed recording paper 930 between a fixed blade 941 and a movable blade 942 and the recording paper 930 is then discharged from the printer 1000. In the printer 1000 illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the fixed blade 941 and the platen roller 920 are attached toward an operation lever 950.
As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the movable blade 942 moves toward the fixed blade 941 when the printing is completed. That is, the movable blade 942 moves in a rightward direction in FIG. 1B. Thereby, the recording medium 930 between the movable blade 942 and the fixed blade 941 is cut. A spring is provided to exert force to the fixed blade 941 to cause the fixed blade 941 to exert force in an upward direction in FIG. 1B. That is, the fixed blade 941 exerts force toward the movable blade 942. After the recording paper 930 is cut, a restoring force of a spring causes the movable blade 942 to return to an initial position. That is, the restoring force causes the movable blade 942 to move in a leftward direction in FIG. 1B.
However, in a case where paper jam of the recording paper 930 occurs in which a recording paper 930a is jammed between the fixed blade 941 and the movable blade 942 as illustrated in FIG. 2A, the movable blade 942 cannot return to the initial position due to an upward force exerted from the spring to the fixed blade 941.
In this case, the operation lever 950 may be operated to remove the recording paper 930a jammed between the fixed blade 941 and the movable blade 942. However, even if the operation lever 950 is pressed downward (arrow direction A in FIG. 2B), the recording paper 930a cannot be removed due to a pressing force exerted to the movable blade 942 from the fixed blade 941.